Community Matters: 300 days until Unit 6 Major Component Replacement Project begins

When the calendar hits March 7, it will mark 300 days until the start of Bruce Power’s Unit 6 Major Component Replacement (MCR) Project.

While a lot of work and planning remains before the MCR begins in January 2020, we are confident we’re on the right path, and we remain on time and on budget. During this project, internal components will be replaced, adding about 30 years of operating life to the unit.

Since our Life-Extension Program began on Jan. 1, 2016, we have been working toward January 2020. We have streamlined various areas of our organization to maximize the depth of our peoples’ skills, and we are on a path to success.

We have built relationships with numerous supplier partners through the signing of Life-Extension contracts. In fact, in 2018, we signed over $2 billion in supplier contracts, with over 90 per cent of that spend staying within the Province of Ontario. The impact of Bruce Power’s Life-Extension Program, which includes MCRs in Units 3-8 and will allow the site to operate to 2064, cannot be underestimated. Every year, Bruce Power’s ongoing operations will create and sustain 22,000 direct and indirect jobs across Ontario, while $4 billion in direct and indirect spending will be injected into the province’s economy.

Our positive relationship with our supplier partners has also had a big impact on Bruce, Grey and Huron counties, as 45 companies have opened offices or manufacturing facilities in the region, creating hundreds of jobs, adding to municipal tax bases, increasing sponsorship to non-profit organizations and events, and making the region a hub for nuclear innovation. As we approach January 2020, we expect more companies from the nuclear supply chain will create a local presence, which will also help ensure the project’s success by having the right people located where the work is being done.

In the coming days, we will also hold the grand opening of the MCR Training Facility, located just off Sutton Street, in Kincardine. This 129,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art building features a two-storey office area that includes office space, classrooms and amenities for up to 500 occupants (350 office workers and 150 in the shop space); a one-storey, high-bay shop area to host training, shop, and storage space; and parking, amenities, and facilities for 500. This is where the skilled tradespeople, who are integral to the project’s success, will train for the highly technical work they will complete during the Unit 6 MCR.

Bruce Power is undertaking the multi-billion Life-Extension Program so it can continue to provide the families and businesses of Ontario with low-cost, clean power, while producing medical isotopes for the world’s health care sector, saving lives every day.

The next 300 days will be busy, but we look forward to the challenges to come. Feel free to contact me at james.scongack@brucepower.com or on Twitter @jscongack.